Archives

I’ve been busy. We moved, we had no internet connection. I was providing vacation coverage at the serious SC blog. Excuses excuses.

However, things are picking up – we’re less than 4 weeks away from the start of college football, the Scottish Premiere League is already on the go, and the English Premier League kicks back into gear this weekend. And much as I enjoyed watching David Beckham demonstrate the value of an accurate forward pass in the friendly against Chelsea – almost as much as I enjoyed watching Gordon Strachan trying not to go purple when Celtic let him down again in an MLS friendly – this is the real deal.

I suppose this is where I should put some kind of predictions, but season previews are for people with energy and commitment. For college football, there’s really no need to go beyond Phil Steele, although the inimitable Sunday Morning Quarterback is probably the next closest authority – and bless Steele’s heart, he’s just not as funny. As for English footie, the top four will try and array themselves for Europe in 2008, and some mid-table team will start strong and fade in the stretch. The usual, unless Roy Keane detonates in early January.

At this point I’m going to get even lazier and copy in portions of an email to my brother and occasional co-author, Thistle71:

Did you see that Celtic could only manage a goal-less draw with Kilmarnock last weekend? At least Rangers were able to beat Caley Thistle. I’m a little more positive about the Gers since they hired DaMarcus Beasley – he’s got the right lack of tactical nous for Scottish football but they’ll like him for putting in the effort, I suppose.

I’m looking forward to having the DVR for recording footy matches – because the evening replay is not always what I want to watch. Being able to catch champion’s league games will be good as well. And I think this might be the year I give in, jump on the bandwagon, and openly support Arsenal. Because there’s something splendid about the fact that Wenger has almost entirely rebuilt the team, and still has no defense. It’s not very Highbury, but it’s entertainment galore. And while I remain intrigued by Alex Ferguson’s efforts to build an attacking midfield of men with no necks, I can’t be an overt Man U supporter.

Speaking of, when we went to Pittsburgh the other weekend, we were having lunch in a Chick-Fil-A in Cumberland, MD, and there was a kid there with either a Man U or a Chelsea shirt on… and I thought, that’s amazing, to see a local kid here wearing that. Turned out the whole family was English. What the hell they were doing in Cumberland, I have no idea.

There you have it… the theme for the season is fans out of place, and the highlight will probably come in September when Thistle71 and his charming fiancée tie the knot in Edinburgh – preceded, if all goes to plan, by a trip to McDiarmid Park in Perth to watch Partick Thistle take on St. Johnstone. Ah, the highland rain, the crap football, the pies… I can hardly wait.